St Augustine finale

 

Cloudy and a little windy but a fine day to hit the beach. Just 32 miles, fortunately much of it on a bike path, before the last stretch of highway and then a few hectic city miles. Group of noisy conservative demonstrators at the last bridge blessed us as we rode past trying to ignore their signs. To the beach, a front end dip, some champagne and some family greetings. No one went swimming, surf was definitely up.

Today definitely reinforced my convictions: I really enjoy bike paths and am really, really, really tired of busy highways and crappy roads with no shoulders. Don't get me started on RV parks. Glad this trip is finished. The hotel hot tub awaits. Unfortunately it's broken.

And this area is Florida's potato capital, according to this barn sign.

Some quick notes on cyclo-touring after 70.

1. Aches and pains: inevitable and widespread. Most concerning are knees and neck, which seem to be both "normal" wear and tear but increasingly proportionate to stress of bad roads and busy traffic. New is tension focusing on the right side of my neck, with some tingling running down my arm. This seems due to constantly checking mirror to see what's coming behind, requiring me to move neck slightly to left to flick glance back. 

2. Comfort level. It's back to motels for me from now on, assuming I ever do another bike trip. The Adventure Cycling van supported model doesn't work for me on several levels. I realize RV parks are often the only option, and did enjoy the "champing" but all that tenting after biking is just no fun at my age.  And you can imagine (having read my frequent complaints) the problem cooking for a group of meat eaters presents. Far better would be motel stays and local restaurants featuring local cuisine and more variety -- again when possible. Maybe just limit myself to shorter trips, and be done with epics. Sorry, no 6 month TDA Cairo to Capetown for me.

3. Riding and living with a group so intensively. Not for me. Has it's moments, but. Again, the dynamics of a shorter trip would be different. But my solo touring past on my own schedule worked well for me.

4. So yes, despite all the above I'm glad I did this. Saw the terrain I always wanted to bike through, experienced the magnificent breadth of this country once again, and met some very nice people.  And I'm signing off to go eat pizza and drink beer for our farewell dinner -- good times.